Penn State Nittany Lions basketball

Penn State Nittany Lions
2024–25 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team
University	Pennsylvania State University
First season	1896–97
Head coach	Mike Rhoades (2nd Season)
Conference	Big Ten
Location	University Park, Pennsylvania
Arena	Bryce Jordan Center (capacity: 15,261)
Nickname	Nittany Lions
Student section	Legion of Blue
Colors	Blue and white[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament Final Four
1954
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1942, 1954
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1952, 1954, 1955, 2001
NCAA tournament round of 32
1991, 2001, 2023
NCAA tournament appearances
1942, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1965, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2011, 2023
Conference tournament champions
Atlantic 10: 1991
Conference division season champions
Eastern Collegiate League West: 1977

The Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team representing the Pennsylvania State University. They play home games at the 15,261-seat Bryce Jordan Center, moving there from Rec Hall during the 1995–96 season. Their student cheering section is known as the Legion of Blue.

The team played its first season of basketball in 1897, finishing with a 1-1 record after playing Bucknell twice. They lost the first game 4-24, and won the second 10-7. The team went without a formal head coach until Burke Hermann in 1916.^[2]

The program has ten NCAA tournament appearances with its best finish coming in 1954, reaching the Final Four. Its most recent appearance was in 2023, when the team beat Texas A&M in the first round. The program also has 11 appearances in the National Invitation Tournament, with the most recent being in 2018, when they beat Utah to win the NIT championship. They also won the NIT championship in 2009.